Families sit atop their belongings while fleeing their flooded village in the town of Golarchi in Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province September 13, 2011. – Reuters Photo

PINGRIO: Pakistani soldiers in inflatable rescue boats peered across kilometers of flooded farmland and spotted a man wading through waist-deep water desperate to move his goat to high ground.

For the past two weeks, Kaywall has spent 12 hours a day moving his family's livestock from his inundated village to the small town of Pingrio in Sindh province in the south.

The goats are the only thing he has managed to save from raging waters which swept away his house and belongings.

Like many other flood victims, he awaits help from Pakistan's cash-strapped government.

“My house was completely destroyed,” said the construction worker, whose family is stranded. “The government has not done anything for us. They are not around.”

The scene, being played out in many parts of Sindh, was a troubling reminder of floods which ravaged much of Pakistan in late July and August last year.

Pakistan's civilian leaders were slow to respond, leaving the far more decisive military to take charge of rescue and relief efforts, along with international aid agencies.

This year, floods have destroyed or damaged 1.2 million houses and flooded 4.5 million acres (1.8 million hectares) since late last month, officials and Western aid groups say.

More than 300,000 people were made homeless. Frustrations with the government are running high. On Wednesday afternoon, 80 men blocked the main road to Hyderabad, the biggest city near the flooded areas. They are demanding help from the authorities.

The government, heavily reliant on foreign aid and an $11 billion IMF loan to keep the economy afloat, is already stretched dealing with other critical issues like a Taliban insurgency and power cuts.

Entire villages are submerged. Only roofs of houses or the tops of trees are visible. Some people who thought they had found shelter were suddenly uprooted by raging waters again.

In a vast expanse of flood water that swallowed up houses and farmland in one area, only part of a blue and white tent was visible.

Women displaced by floods sit outside their tents while taking refuge along a road in Golarchi in Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province September 13, 2011. – Reuters Photo

Many wondered how they would survive.

“We are rice farmers and our crops are destroyed. We had animals but they died. We have nothing left, no income,” said a 25-year-old woman named Amna.

Some people were able to reach the one road that leads to Pingrio, which is flooded in some sections and is surrounded by water on several sides.

Some 900 people have taken shelter there in tents run by an Islamic charity which also provided relief in last year's floods.

Analysts say the government will lose even more credibility if charities tied to Islamist groups are seen as more helpful than the state.

“We have enough food for people here but if more are coming in then we won't be able to feed them,” said Abdul Karim, who runs the Islamic charity camp.

The 2010 floods killed about 2,000 people and made 11 million homeless in one of Pakistan's worst natural disasters.

Some 800,000 families remain without permanent shelter.

Victims of the new floods face uncertainty as they struggle to come to terms with what has happened.

“The flood was over my head,” said Alam, a 31-year-old tenant farner with four children. “It came suddenly in the middle of the night while we were sleeping.”

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.